Box-machine



(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 1;

J. F. ADAMS. BOX MACHINE.

No. 536,450. Patented Mar.26,1895

I In Mew/5a a" warm-S w W "w WW v - 5 Sheets-Sheet v3. J. F. ADAMS. BOX MACHINE.

Patented Mar. 26, 1895.

(No Model.)

(No Model.) J 5 SheetsSheet 5. J. P. ADAMS.

I BOX MAGHINE. No. 536,450. 7 Patented Mar. 26, 1895.

Wimwaca: v u I fnvcntofi UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH F. ADAMS, OF VAN BUREN, ARKANSAS.

BOX-MACHlNE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 536,450, dated March 26, 1895.

I Application filed January 23, 1892- 'Serial No. 419,067. (No model.)

Arkansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Box-Machines, of

which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in box machines, and to that class of machines in which a flexible sheet, such as veneer, straw board, &c., is folded or formed into the shape to form the sides of the box, as in fruit boxes, 850.

The invention consists in the peculiar construction, arrangement and combination, first, of a foldingdevice or former and a tacking or stapling mechanism; second, in the peculiar construction of each of these mechanisms; third, in the peculiar construction of the operating mechanism for each part, and fourth, in the peculiar construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts, all as more fully hereinafter described.

In the drawings, Figure l'is a side elevation of my machine, constructed as used in the manufacture of octagonal berry-boxes, showing the parts in their operated positions; Fig. 2, a vertical, central section showing the parts in position to be operated. Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the upper part of the device, showing parts in the position shown in Fig. 2.

'Fig. 4. is a similar elevation'of the form and through the form and former showing the flexible sheet clamped upon the form. Fig. 6 is a horizontal section online a: a: Fig. 2. Fig. 7 is a rear elevation of the head of the machine showing the actuating cross-head, 850. Fig. 8 is asectional elevation of the trigger mechanism for the bottom clamp and staple mechanism, taken on the line 10-20 of Fig. 7. Fig. 9 shows detail elevations of the triggers for the stapling mechanism. Fig. 10 is a side elevation of the stapling head. Fig. 11, is adetail bottom plan view of the stapling head with the cap removed. Figs. 12, 13 and 14 are elevations of the stapling head with the front of the casing removed, showing the tached perspective view of a pawl.

Fig. 15 is a de- Fig. 16 is a vertical central section on the line u u parts in different positions.

of Fig. 13 through the stapling head showing the parts in position. Fig. 17 is a vertical section through the feed rollers taken on the '14 on the line ss Fig. 7. Fig. 21 is a detail view of a blank for the sides and Fig. 22 is a bottom plan view of a box showing the projecting corners of the bottom.

' head 0, which is a substantially rectangular plate as shown in Fig. 3. This head supports the form D, the former E and the trigger mechanisms. It is also provided with a rearwardly extending arm F on which is pivoted the reel G for holding thewire for the stapling mechanism. H are forwardly extending arms also secured to this head for supportng the veneer, and if desired a table I may be secured thereon. v

The form in this. machine is an octagonal block adapted to form an octagonal box from veneer, paper or other thin flexible sheet. Other shapes may be employed if desired. This form is of wood and is secured to the head 0 in any desired manner, having an anvil 1 against which the staples are clinched, and recesses 2 (shown in dotted lines Fig. 6) for the gages on the former to enter; and at the forward edge with spring guide fingers 3 which serve to guide the bottom and hold it firmly in position while the sides are being formed around it.

The former consists of the stationary plate 4 (Fig. 5) secured to the head 0 underneath the form and corresponding in length to one side thereof. To each end of this plate arehinged articulated end sections, each member of said section corresponding to a side of the box or form. The sectionto-the left consists ofthe members 5, 6, 7, Sand the section to the right consists of the members 9, 10 and 11, the end member of this section being an angular member and comprising two sides .of the box. The object of this is simply to avoid one joint. This last member can however be madeif desired to correspond to the other sec tions. The section to the left is slightly longer than the section to the right and the total length of the former is less than the total circumference of the box, leavinga space between the ends of the former when clamped upon the box or form, in which the stapling mechanism may work, as will be more fully hereinafterdescribed. Thesearticulated end sections are normally arranged in a horizontal position parallel with the plate 4and forming a table or support upon which the veneer or flexible strip may be placed. These sections are supported upon a cross-bar L adjustably secured by means of the set screws M to the under side of the plate 4, and having a stop 0 at one end forming end gages for the material. This cross-bar L 1 preferably make of spring metal to prevent damage to the former in returning to its initial position the same acting as a cushion.

12 is a bottom clamping plate hinged to the front edge of the plate 4, and of ashape substantially corresponding with the shape of the bottom of the box. I preferably cut away the upper central portion of this plate as shown at 13, so that the operator may insert his finger if desired to hold the bottom in position.

The articulated sections when used in connection with the box, in which the ends are adapted to be overlapped and stapled should operate one in advance of the other. The mechanism for operating them consists of the following parts: 14. is a cross-head having suitable ways engaged with the edges of the head 0 and provided on each side with the flanges 15 and 16 respectively, extending forwardly beside the form, as plainly shown in Fig l the former being higher than the latter. This cross-head is supported at the upper end of the shaft 17 pivoted thereto, and at the lower end pivoted to the lowerend of the foot lever 48 which is supported on suitable trunnions in the base A. Each of the members of the articulated sections is provided with a rib or actuating cam 18 arranged in line of the flanges 15 and 16 and each rib or cam is provided at its end with flat shoulders 19. The ribs or cams 18 are as shown of varying sizes and shapes so that as the vertically moving flanges l5--16 are forced up they will engage the same and force the articulation directly onto the different sides of the form.

20 are chains connecting the outer members of the end section with the cross-head, this connection preferably being made with the cross-head to hold the clamping plate in position during the upward movement of the cross-head. It is also provided with the inclined bearing 26 adapted to be struck by the lower end of the cross-head to positively withdraw the clamping plate 12 in the downward movement of said crosshead.

In Figs. 2 and 3 the parts are shown in their initial position. The veneer being laid upon the former beneath the form and the bottom on the clamping plate, the operator presses downward on the foot lever, which raises the cross-head. The first movement of the cross-head striking the shoulder 24 on the actuating arm 23 throws the bottom clamping plate 12 up against the bottom between the guides 3, the corners of the bottom projecting upward from the incline or chamferecl portions of the form, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4. As soon as the cross-head has moved the bottom clamping plate in position it bears against the holding face 25 and tightly holds that plate in its actuated position during the forward movement of the crosshead. As soon as the bottom isin position the flange 15 strikes the cam upon the member 5 of the left hand section and clamps that member against the form, as shown in Fig. 4B. As soon as it reaches the end of that cam it strikes the holding shoulder 19 and moves that member in. While it takes its upward movement striking successively the cams upon the members 6, 7 and 8 moving them into position to clamp upon the form, and striking the holding shoulders 19 thereon to hold them in their clamped position, the same operation is performed upon the section at the other end of the box, said section, being moved slightly behind the movement of the left hand section, so that one end of the veneer will overlap the other at the top.

In using Wood veneer I preferably employ such stulf as has been scored at the point where the bend is to be around the corner. This prevents the breaking of the material. The parts are held in this position until the stapling is efiected either by hand 'or me chanically as hereinafter described. Then the operator releasing his hold and pressing on the step 27 on the opposite side of the fulcrum of the foot lever 18 withdraws the crosshead and returns the parts to the initial position as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. he chains 20 draw the articulations down as the crosshead lowers.

38 are adjustable gages on the former to gage the position of the veneer strip.

The stapling mechanism consists of a head supported at the upper end of the shaft 28 which is slidingly secured in suitable hearings on the rear of the head 0 of the machine, being held in its upper position by means of a trigger 29, having the shoulder 30, with which the pin 31 on the shaft 28 is adapted to engage, this trigger-being released by means of the lug 32 on the cross-head striking the inclined shoulder 33' upon the upper end of the trigger. The lower end of this shaft pivotally connects with the connecting bar 34, which is pivoted to the outer end of a lever 35 journaled upon a pivot 36 at the front edge of the base.

The stapling mechanism is shown in detail in Figs. to 16 inclusive and comprises a mechanism in which a staple is made from the wire and driven in the downward movement of the stapling head, and new wire is fed in to form the next staple upon the upward movement thereof; and it will be seen that the stapling head is released (whereby it may drop by gravity) by the movement of the actuating mechanism for the former, being returned in the return of the lever 18, by the engagement of the finger 102 over said lever 18.

The plate 0. having apertured lugs 17 secured by means of a 'set screw 0 to the shaft 28, supports the stapling mechanism and forms the driving part thereof, and I shall refer to it as thedriviug plate.

d is a casing, preferably made in two parts secured together by clamping bolts or screws e, and slidingly suspended from the plate a by a set screwf (Fig. 16) which rests upon 3. lug g. These two parts form'a hollow casing in which the plate a has a limited sliding movement.

At one side of the casing are two grooved feed rollers h i,'the roller 11 being adjustable its holding screw 41 moving in the slot i so that the wires may be readily inserted in the guide ways. I have shown them provided with two grooves with a notched drive wheel j adapted to be turned in its upward move ment to feed the wire, by the hook or pawl, pivoted to the arm F, Figs. 1 and 2.

In the drawings I have shown a device adapted to make and drive two staples simultaneously. The two halves however being alike, it is obvious that a single staple may be driven if desired.

Between the side flanges Z and a central lug m on the casing, are formed two guide ways n in which the staple formin g tongues 0 move. These tongues are separated a distance equal to the width of the legs of the staple and are secured to or formed integral with the lower edge of aforming plate 10 which plate lies between the casing and the driving plate a, as shown in Fig. 16. This forming plate is supported on the driving platein its upper position, by means of a clutch-device, which I have shown formed 'by'a cam shaped'pawl g, which causes the forming plate to be carried downward therewith a proper distance to form the staple, and then is disengaged and permits the independent movement of the driv-' ing plate to drive the staple, as will be more fully hereinafter described.

On the side of plate a adjacent to plate 19 are formed downwardly extending lugs orhammers r the upper ends of which terminate a short distance above and the lower ends below the edge of plate 01.. These lugs fit in the space between tongues-0 and their upper ends engage, the lower. edge of plate p, at the end of the space between the tongues, as indidicated in dotted lines Fig. 12.

The lower end of the casing is preferably provided with the cap 1" between which and the casing are formed the wire guide ways 3 25 leading from the feed rollers across the two' ways n. (See Fig. 11.)

u are two forming blocks secured to the cross-bar v of the frame to pivoted upon the casing, as plainly shown in Figs. 11 and.15. This frame is so constructed that the blocks .u are normally held in the ways and are located in such relation to the forming tongue 0 that in the downward movemeutof said tongues they pass upon each side of said blocks. The frame 10 extends above its pivotal point and is provided with the forward extending finger a; shown in Fig. 16.

The parts being thus constructed operate as follows: Fig. 12 shows them in their initial position with the wires extending across the Ways 7. In this position the lugs'a on the cam shaped pawl q engages beneath theinclined shoulder b on the plate a and above the inclined shoulderc' on theformin'gplate p and the upper ends of hammers r engaging the loweredge of plate 10 thus holding these two: plates in fixed relation to each other, while the casing is suspended at its lowest position, by means of the 'set screwfengaging on the lug g. The blocks 11. are also in line with the space between the two, forming tongues 0, and are held from movement by the engagement of the finger x upon the outer face of the plate a. The support for the stapling head being released it falls until the lower edge of the casing strikes against the box and arrests the downward movement of the casing, the plate a and the plate 10 being coupled thereto continuing their downward movement, the tongue 0 shearing off the wire and bending it into the usual U-shaped staple' around the blocks u. The parts being then in the position shown inFig. 13 and the staples formed over the block 10,1 preferably form slight grooves d on the inner faces of the tongues 0 to hold the wire in the tongues after it has been formed while being driven. The farther downward movement of the head a would be prevented by the lug a unless that lug were disengaged from the position shown in Fig. 12, and this is done by providingaslot or aperture e in the side of the easing at a point which will allow of the disengagement of that lug from between the plates at and 19. When the parts have reached the position shown in Fig. 13 the inclined face b forces the lug out from between the two and allows the plate a to continue downward to enable the hammer r to drive the staple. In its continued downward movement the beveled lower edge of the plate a strikes upon ICC the upper edge of the cross-bar '12 and rocks the position shown in Fig. 14. In the upward movement of the head, the plate a, is first withdrawn. The finger m engages over the plate 19 and prevents it being carried with the plate a until that plate has been withdrawn the proper distance to carry the upper ends of the hammers 'r into engagement with plate 19. The finger 00 is withdrawn by the movement of the frame W. Plate 19 is next moved, it being coupled to the plate a by the engagement of the hammers with the lower edge of the plate 19. The continued movement of the plate a causes the re-engagement of the lug a between the two plates. The movement of lug a, is accomplished by the inclined face g thereon, striking the inclined face f on the casing, as shown in Fig. 13, which forces the lug into its initial position causing the plate p to move down and be rigidly held with the plate a. As plate a is forced down the plate 19 will be held rigid therewith, through the first part of the movement, and the lugs 0 will be extended below the hammers for the purpose of forming the staples before the hammers reach the same, so that as plate a is forced down the plate 19 will through the first part of the movement of plate a be held rigid therewith with the lugs 0 below the hammers, whereby the staples may be formed by the lugs. The upward movement of plate a is continued until the set screw f strikes the lug 9 when the casing is likewise moved with the other parts and carried to its upper position. In this upward movement of the head, the pawl engages on the notched feed wheelj as shown in Fig. 2, which revolves the feed rollers h 11 feeding the wire inward across the ways 7?. ready for an other operation.

It is desired sometimes to hold the stapling mechanism from operation by the cross head and to control its movement independently. This I accomplish by employing a trigger 103, a duplicate of trigger 29, adapted to engage a pin 105 on the rod 28, as shown in Fig. 7. This trigger may be withdrawn by a rod 106, out of operative position; or when moved into operative position,it will hold the rod 28, and the stapling mechanism from operation, until it is withdrawn by the operator.

The bottom of the box is secured in position by placing it against the end of the form beneath guides 3 and as the clamps 12 are moved up the bottom is held in position. As the veneer is being forced around the form, the corners of the bottom enter in and project through the openings am the inclined portions 2 of the veneer. By this means the bottom of the box is held in place as soon as the ends of the veneer are secured.

What I claim as my invention is 1. In a box machine, the combination, with a form, of a former consisting of pluralities of articulations arranged on opposite sides of the former, a series of varying shaped projections respectively on the articulations, and mechanism for engaging the projections and 2. The combination with the form, and an articulated former, of a reciprocating cross head adapted in its upward movement to press the former upon the form, and a flexible connection between the cross-head and former adapted to withdraw the former in the downward movement of the cross head, substantially as described.

3. The combination with the form, of an articulated former adjacent thereto, composed of a plurality of articulations of cam shaped ribs of varying size upon the respective articulations and a reciprocating cross head adapted to strike said ribs in its upward movement to press the former upon the form, substantially as described.

4. The combination with the form, of an articulated former adjacent thereto, cam shaped ribs upon the former having holding shoulders at the end, and a reciprocating cross head adapted to strike said ribs to press the former upon the form in its upward movement and to bear against the holding shoulders, to maintain the sections of the former in their adj usted positions, substantially as described.

5. In a box making machine, the combination of a form, abottom clamp, a former, and a cross head adapted to successively actuate the bottom clamp and the former, substantially as described.

6. In a box making machine, the combination of a form, a bottom clamp, a former, a reciprocating cross head adapted to successively press the bottom clamp and former upon the form and of shoulders against which the head bears for holding the clamp and former in their actuated position, substantially as described.

7. In a box making machine, a form of a configuration corresponding with the interior of the box, a clamp for the bottom, and guides extending out from the edge of the form within which the bottom is clamped, substantially as described.

8. In a box making machine, the combination of a form, a plate stationarily secured below the form, of articulated sections hinged to said plate, of supports for holding said sections in a plane with the plate to form atable for the veneer strip, a bottom clamp hinged to the forward edge of said plate, and actuating mechanism for the end sections and clamp, substantially as described.

9. In a box making machine, the combination with the form, the plate 4 beneath the form, the articulated end sections hinged to said plate, the actuating mechanism therefor, a bar L forming a support for said sections, adj ustably secured in position, and the extension 0, on said bar forming a gage for the veneer, substantially as described.

10. In a box making machine, the combina' tion of the form, forming mechanism adapted to hold a flexible sheet about the form and overlap the ends, a gravity acting stapling mechanism, and means for actuating said mechanism successively, substantially as described.

11. In a box making machine, the combination with a form of abottom plate for c1amp-' ing the bottom upon the form, formers for folding a flexible sheet about the form with overlapping ends a stapling mechanism, and means for actuating the parts in succession, substantially as described.

12. In a box making machine, the combination of the form, the former and a stapling mechanism, a trigger for holding the stapling mechanism and a cross head for actuating the former, and releasing said trigger, and a lever for actuating the cross head, substantially as described.

13. In a box making machine, the combina tion of the form, the former, and a stapling device, of a shaft for supporting the stapling device, a trigger for supporting said stapling device in its elevated position above the form, a cross head for actuating the former and for releasing said trigger, a lever for actuating said cross head, and a connection between said lever and the stapling device, whereby the latter is elevated in the return of the lever to its initial position, substantially as described.

14. In a box machine, the combination with a former, of a reciprocating supporting shaft, a casing carried by the shaft, a stapling mechanism in the casing comprising a wire feed,

means for normally retaining the casing in anelevated position and a trip for releasingthe casing, substantially as described.

15. In a box machine, the combination of a support for the box, a stapling mechanism comprising a casing having vertical guides formed near thelower end, a head from which said casing is suspended and upon which it has a limited sliding movement, of a driving hammer on said head, and an intermediate plate also suspended from the'head, having forming tongues 0 and a retractible forming block below and between said tongues, the

parts operating as and for the purpose described.

16. In a box machine, the combination of a support for the box, a stapling mechanism,

consisting of the shaft 28, the head a, secured thereto and having the driving hammer formed at the lower end thereof, of the casing 01 suspended therefrom and having guide ways it formed therein, of the forming plate 10 between the casing and the plate a, of the forming tongues 0 formed at the lower end of said plate, the frame w pivoted to the casing, forming blocks u secured to the lower edge of said frame, a wire feed, means for forcing the stapling mechanism upon the box and for causing the forming and driving plates to 0perate successively, substantially as described.

17. In a box machine, the combination with the box support of a stapling mechanism comprising the plate a, the-casing d suspended therefrom, the forming plate 1), the retractible forming blocks 10, the pawl q having the lug a upon its inner face adapted to engage between the shoulder c on the forming plate and theshoulder b upon the driving plate, of the inclined bearingfupou the casing formed at the upper edge of the aperture e, the parts arranged and operated, substantially asand for the purposes described.

18. In a box making machine, the combination with the box support, of a stapling mechanism comprising a vertically reciprocating casing, a forming plate, a driving plate, and forming blocks, of means for actuating the forming plate and driving plate successively, means actuated by a plate for moving the blocks in and of means for retracting the forming block in advance of the driving plate, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I afi'ix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOSEPH F. ADAMS. 

